Scarlett has been visiting the slumsWhile Jade Goody lives it up in a five-star hotel during her trip to India, Hollywood actress Scarlett Johansson has been touring Indian slums to meet the country’s poor.
The Lost In Translation star is on a 10-day visit to the sub-continent with charity Oxfam.
Scarlett, 22, missed the Oscars in order to take the trip.
She visited an Oxfam-funded school in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, set up to educate children from the “untouchable” Dalit caste.
And she told how meeting one little girl had a profound effect on her.
“I met a young girl, Gudiya, at a school for Dalit children, a community considered to be the lowest class,” the actress said.
“She was an amazing, bright young girl, full of ambition and attending the fifth grade. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, she said ‘a government official’.
“Every morning she rises at 3am to study and then complete the household chores before walking for half an hour to school.
“I asked her how she felt she would be able to raise her family and also hold a government position. She responded confidently, ‘I can manage’.
“Her self-pride and drive to succeed was an obvious outcome from her schooling.”
Scarlett also travelled to Sri Lanka where the charity is helping to rebuild communities following the 2004 tsunami.
